media :

For all media enquiries please contact:

Ellice Mol

: +61 2 9399 1271

: 0415 224 886

Norbert Schweizer Awarded OAM for Service to the Community

THURSDAY26 JANUARY 201712:15 AM

NeuRA board member and Sydney business lawyer Norbert Schweizer has been made a member of the Order of Australia in the General Division for his “service to the community through voluntary roles”.
The Governor-General today announced Mr Schweizer’s Medal of the Order of Australia award in recognition of his contributions to the Australian community – in particular his dedicated service to the care and support of those less able to fend or provide for themselves. On being informed about the award, Schweizer said, “I am very humbled by this honour”.
Mr Schweizer’s experience of having a son diagnosed with schizophrenia more than a decade ago has also made him a passionate advocate for people with mental illness. Over the past decade, he has devoted considerable time to the Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI) where he has served as Chairman and was instrumental in coordinating the institute’s successful merger with Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) of which he is now a director.
“Norbert has been a dedicated and passionate Director and Chairman and his contributions to both NeuRA and SRI are highly valued,” says NeuRA CEO, Prof Peter Schofield.
When asked what it was he enjoyed about “doing his part”, Schweizer – who has led a lifetime of volunteering – says it gives him a “wonderful sense. If you don’t give your time and energy to make things better for others, you are living a fairly selfish life. If you can contribute to the welfare of others, then that gives you great satisfaction,” says Schweizer, who is the founding partner of Schweizer Kobras, Lawyers and Notaries.
Since the 1970s, Mr Schweizer has been actively engaged in a range of service organisations from the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children to the B’nai B’rith Retirement Villages, Schizophrenia Research Institute and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA). He has also worked closely on an honorary or not-for-profit basis with a number of Jewish, Catholic and Lutheran retirement villages, churches, schools and other community and welfare organisations.